MechChem Africa September 2018

⎪ SAIChE IChemE news ⎪

SAIChE IChemE SAIChE Board members: President: C Sheridan Imm. Past President D van Vuuren Honorary Treasurer L van Dyk + Vice President: Honorary Secretary: EMObwaka Vice President: D Lokhat Council member: JJ Scholtz Council member: AB Hlatshwayo Council member: K Harding Council Member: M Low Council Member: HMazema Council Member: MChetty Council Member: A de Bondt Council Member: MMabaso Council Member NN Coni Member (co-opted): MD Heydenrych Member (co-opted): MHughes Member (co-opted): CMausse Chair Gauteng: C Sandrock Chair KZN: D Lokhat Chair Western Cape: HMazema Contact details SAIChE PO Box 2125, North Riding, 2162 South Africa natural gas in cement hydrate by Monte Carlo simulation’. Thefirst runner upwasBoldwinMutsvene fromDurbanUniversity of Technology (DUT) who presented a paper called ‘Enhanced bio- hydrogen production from carbohydrate-rich industrial wastewater’ , while In third placewas SphesihleMtsweni aPhDstudent atDUTand an nGap lecturer at Mangosuthu University of Technology who presented a paper titled ‘Effect of controlling factors on horizontal roughing filter performance: the pre-treatment of domestic greywater’ . The winner of the poster presentation category was EK Armah, also from DUT, who presented a poster titled ‘Anaerobic co- digestion of agricultural biomass with industrial wastewater for biogas production’ . Congratulations to all participants and thank you for your support over the past ten years. q

Brand manager of The Glenlivet, Isaac Pooe, informs SAIChE IChemE attendees on the tasting and appreciation of whisky.

whisky producers in the world compared to every other whisky-producing region. The evening ended with a wonderful smokeyQuarterCask Laphroaic, named after the maturation process, which takes place in quarter casks that speed up maturation and allow generous oak contact – in technical terms, think surface area to liquid volume – which impressed tasters with the intense peatiness of a true Islay whiskey. Judging by the high level of interest and the convivial atmosphere that prevailed at this event, this may become an annual event. Please keep a look out on your emails for the next one. KwaZulu-Natal Members Group This year the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers’ KwaZulu-Natal Branch hosted its annual ResearchDay on the 15 th of August at the School of Engineering building of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This was the tenth such event organised by the Branch. The inaugural Research Day was

held on 21 st August 2008 at the Innovation Centre at UKZN. As Elly Obwaka – the organiser of the in- augural event and this year’s judge – recalls, the participants in that first event, a mere three presenters, were exclusively under- graduate students presenting on projects undertaken in the various departments of chemical engineering in the region. This year all participants were either postgraduate students or academics, representing a full half-day symposium of eight presenters. Obwaka also noted with interest the vast improvement in theassessment of theentries. For the 2018 event, presenters’ abstracts were critically assessed and on this basis eight oral presenters and five poster pre- senters were selected. At the event, further assessment of the poster artefacts and oral presentations were carried out. The winner of the oral presentation category was Dr Matthew Lasich, a lecturer at Mangosuthu University of Technology, who presented a paper entitled ‘Sorption of

Tel: +27 11 704 5915 Fax: +27 86 672 9430 email: saiche@mweb.co.za saiche@icheme.org website: www.saiche.co.za

Attendees at the 2018 UKZN Annual Research Day.

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